I fulfilled a big dream of mine and finally got a car I breathed on down the track. I bought my Duster back in early 2012 and I drove it around on the street for a bit. I took it apart that winter and built it back up over the last year and a half with the goal of getting it in the mid 11s. The previous owner claimed it went a best of 11.97.
So just recently it was finally at a point where I felt comfortable with it. My friend offered his 05 Ram CTD to trailer it up to Lebanon Valley Dragway yesterday for the Mopar Day so off we went.
I was nervous but it all went away once I made the first pass. Out of the 4 runs I got, my best time was 12.46 letting off before the stripe so it may have gone a tick or two faster. Best mph was 108, best 60 ft of the day was 1.77. I have a long way to go on the tree, best reaction time was .186. I did manage to win the first round on a double breakout though which I was pretty happy about. I saw the other guy right next to me at the end of the track and I knew he was coming hard so I let off. He had a better R/T than me too. That was the 12.46 pass, I dialed 12.60. The guy in the other lane broke out running 11.23 on an 11.50 dial.
Last run was a total disaster though. It was the second round and I got creamed at the tree by a guy in a late model Charger with slicks. I tried to make up ground and forgot to shift out of first and I was done. I stayed in it though and ended up throwing the fan belt off but I didn't know it until a little later. At the end of the run, I smelled something burning, I thought maybe I blew something up but it turned out it was the belt.
An unusual thing happened at that point though. The track had gotten confused when they they were running the Mopar street eliminations, they had me and the other guy in the t'n't group so they wanted us to re-run in the Mopar street class. They stopped me at the top of the return road and told me to go right back to the lanes. I was a little confused but I went up anyway.
As I am pulling into the lanes, I happen to glance at my temp gauge (forgetting about the burning smell at the end of the last run) and it was pegged at 265+. I knew I couldn't make the run at that point, it was too hot and I didn't want to risk melting things so I pulled out and putted back to the pits. Popped the hood and saw shredded belt material everywhere and the belt hanging over the pulleys. Put it back on to cool it down but I didn't have an extra belts so my day was done.
I tired not to be disappointed, it was a big deal for me just to get the car down the track and get it close to where it was before I took it apart. I had built this day up in my head for so long, I couldn't take it anymore, I had to run the darn thing.
One thing I know I need to change are the brakes. The darn things won't hold the car much past 1,300 rpm so I couldn't really launch off the line. I am also a little concerned that the motor is tired. Seems like it should be a little faster than mid 12s but that could be any number of things, especially the driver. Guess I also need to look into ways of avoiding tossing belts in the future.
All in all a good day. I am happy to have the first race under my belt. Can't wait to get back out there. Hope to make it back out at least one more time before the end of the season. I admire all of you guys that have been doing this for years and decades, I hope to get to that point some day.
Here's a video my friend took from the stands of the second time shot, a 12.57.
Duster 12.5 
I know you can' 
Nice Duster. Ron
